Crypto Market Roundup: Major XRP Deposit, New SEC Chairman, and Bitcoin's Historic Surge

Massive XRP Deposit on Binance

A staggering deposit of 40,000,000 XRP tokens, valued at approximately $124.8 million, was made to Binance on January 20. While the transfer was initially believed to originate from an anonymous wallet, data from Bithomp suggests it may have been an internal movement within the exchange. The crypto community viewed this as a bullish signal, contributing to XRP's 12% price surge, which peaked at $3.29. However, XRP has since retraced, trading at $3.13, reflecting a 4.82% drop over the past 24 hours.

New Acting Chairman of the SEC

Mark Uyeda, a Republican SEC Commissioner, has been appointed as the agency's new acting chairman, replacing Gary Gensler. Uyeda has been vocal about his criticism of the SEC's "regulation through enforcement" approach under Gensler, calling it a "disaster" for the crypto industry. His appointment follows the departure of Gensler, who led the SEC since 2021. Hester Peirce, another Republican commissioner, congratulated Uyeda on his new role via X.

Bitcoin's Historic Price Surge

Bitcoin reached a new all-time high of $109,114.88, marking a significant milestone for the cryptocurrency. This surge followed weeks of consolidation below $98,000, with Bitcoin rallying 5% in just 24 hours. Samson Mow, a prominent Bitcoin advocate, highlighted the appearance of a "God Candle" on Bitcoin's chart, a bullish indicator that coincided with the price breakout. At the time of writing, Bitcoin has retraced slightly, trading at $103,253, down 4.02% over the past day.